Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, asserting that they have strayed from the startup's original altruistic mission of developing artificial intelligence (AI) for the betterment of humanity, instead prioritizing profit. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco on Thursday, marks the culmination of Musk's long standing opposition to the company he helped found, which has garnered attention as a leading entity in generative AI, largely due to substantial funding from Microsoft.

 

Musk's legal complaint alleges breach of contract, contending that Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman initially approached him to establish an open-source, nonprofit organization. However, Musk asserts that OpenAI, founded in 2015, has shifted its focus to profit generation. According to Musk, the original agreement centered on advancing artificial general intelligence (AGI) in a manner that would benefit humanity, in direct opposition to Google, which Musk believed was pursuing AGI for profit-driven purposes and posed significant risks.

 

The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of deviating from the founding agreement by releasing its GPT-4 language model as essentially a Microsoft product in 2023. Musk seeks legal recourse to compel OpenAI to make its research and technology public while preventing the startup from leveraging its assets, including GPT-4, for Microsoft's financial gain. Additionally, Musk seeks to classify GPT-4 and a new technology known as Q* as AGI, thereby excluding them from Microsoft's licensing rights to OpenAI.

 

OpenAI, Microsoft, and Musk have not responded to Reuters' requests for comment regarding the lawsuit. Musk's legal action comes amid increased scrutiny of OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft for potential antitrust violations in the United States and Britain. The startup's internal conflicts, culminating in Altman's sudden removal and subsequent return, have prompted the formation of a new temporary board, with plans to appoint new board members in March.

 

Despite Musk's allegations, some legal experts question the strength of his case, particularly regarding the validity of the alleged contract breach based on an email exchange between Musk and Altman. Brian Quinn, a law professor at Boston College Law School, suggests that Musk's reliance on a single email as the basis for the contract may not withstand legal scrutiny.

 

Meanwhile, Musk has launched his own AI endeavor, xAI, comprising engineers recruited from leading technology firms like Google and Microsoft. The startup introduced Grok, a ChatGPT competitor, for Premium+ subscribers of Musk's social media platform X in December. Musk aims to develop what he calls a "maximum truth-seeking AI," emphasizing the importance of responsible AI development to mitigate potential risks to humanity and society.

 

While ChatGPT has found widespread use across various industries, Musk and other AI experts have advocated for caution in advancing systems more powerful than GPT-4, citing potential dangers. As the legal battle unfolds, the future of AI development and its societal impact remain subjects of intense scrutiny and debate.